Hayley Tamaddon who plays Corrie's Andrea Beckett on bouncing back from the fall-out of her affair with married Marcus Brigstocke

You can just imagine what an awkward moment it was when Hayley Tamaddon found out her latest soap storyline was to be at the heart of a love triangle.

Because before causing a Coronation Street stir as flirty Andrea Beckett, she had already raised a few eyebrows with her off-screen love life.

On the Weatherfield cobbles, Andrea is juggling the attentions of both Steve McDonald and Lloyd Mullaney.

In real life, Hayley’s affair with married father-of-two Marcus Brigstocke led to him leaving his family home as he split with Sophie, his wife of 12 years.

Now, after a turbulent couple of years, the couple are still together and supporting each other as they tackle reality TV. Comedian Marcus, 40, was recently in Channel 4’s The Jump and Hayley, 37, is now second favourite to win the Dancing on Ice final on Sunday.

And as she prepares to take centre-stage in two of ITV’s biggest shows, Hayley is counting her blessings.

“I’m a very happy girl at the moment” she says. “I’m doing everything that I love to do. My family are very proud of me.

“I feel like the luckiest girl alive to be on two amazing shows and Marcus is there supporting me every week.

“He just did The Jump and it broke him. He has had a knee operation, so touch wood none of us have any injuries like that.”

When news of their affair got out, Marcus – who met Hayley while they were on tour with stage comedy Spamalot – had to deal with the consequences.

“There are things I feel ashamed of,” he said last year. “I am now a person who had an affair. However, I’m happy with my girlfriend, my kids are happy and here we all are. I said to my wife this is what happened and I’m very sorry. We tried to put things back together but it became clear it wasn’t going to work.”

As he and Hayley move on with their new life, it seems having children together is not on the cards yet.

“My body feels 37 but I still feel 21. I sometimes forget that I’m going to be 40,” she says. “It would be lovely to have kids in the future but for now my main ­concentration is my work.

“I’m not scared of nappies or screaming babies but I’m just not at that point.

“Not many of my friends have settled down either. I’m a workaholic. It’s always work, work, work, I can’t switch it off.”

Hayley, originally from Blackpool, says her work ethic comes from her younger years scrubbing toilets in McDonald’s to help support herself while auditioning for roles.

She recalls: “I had loads of jobs to help support my parents. They had put me through drama school when I was 16 and it was £10,000 a term in 1996.

“I was a struggle. I worked in McDonald’s then I worked in Iceland and I worked at the hotel where my dad was a manager.

“Even when I was seven I’d sing and dance outside the cafe where my mum worked and collect 10p pieces from the old ladies at the bus stop.

“I said to my mum, ‘When I make it I’m going to buy you a house and swimming pool’. Now she says, ‘We’re still waiting!’ I’m hoping to get that for her one day. She’s been a real inspiration to me.”

Hard work has certainly reaped rewards for Hayley since she had her big break in 2005 playing Delilah Dingle in Emmerdale.

She was written out after two years but went on to win Dancing On Ice in 2010. Later that year she landed the part of the Lady of the Lake in the touring Monty Python-inspired stage comedy, where Marcus played King Arthur.

Last year she joined Coronation Street and this year she’s back on the “all-star” Dancing on Ice. With her pro partner, Dan Whiston, 37, she’s in this weekend’s final competing against Ray Quinn, 25, and Beth Tweddle, 28.

“I can’t believe I’ve come so far” she says. “After week one I had a really bad injury and I couldn’t skate. It knocked my confidence but I got back in my skates. We started fourth from the bottom, then we were fourth from top and now we’re second.

“Dan is a brilliant teacher and I wouldn’t be here without him. We’ve moulded into one person. Dan pulled his arm the other day and weirdly I pulled mine too. I did it pulling him across the dance floor. I was like, ‘I am the strongest woman ever’ but now I’m in pain. Sharon, our ­physiotherapist, is on speed-dial.

“Every week we go out and try new stuff that we’ve never ever tried before.

“Dan’s been taking little pictures this week to record the moments because we are never going to get to spend this much time together again.

“If I win on Sunday, my trophy goes to him. I want to do it for him because he’s been there for nine years.

“Winning will be the ultimate feeling – the champion of champions.”

Hayley admits that being in Coronation Street may have won her some extra votes.

“It’s a blessing and the Corrie fans are loyal.” she says. “They are picking up the phones and voting for me. They started calling me Andrea now and I like it.

“Corrie have been absolutely amazing, I couldn’t have done this show without their help and support.

“For me to do the tour Corrie have given me two weeks’ holiday and for the rest of it I’m going to have to figure it out. I’ll be doing my hair and make-up in the car but I will make it.”

Her determination to juggle both commitments comes after a recent vote of confidence from Corrie bosses. They initially signed her up for just a short stint in the show but have now extended her contract until October 2015.

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Rovers: Hayley in Corrie

Now she’s steeling herself for Andrea’s rough ride as Street Cars owners Steve and Lloyd, played by Simon Gregson and Craig Charles, both seem to be holding a torch for the single mum.

“There is a love triangle going on between me, Craig and Simon’s characters,” she says. “Working with those two is brilliant fun. Me and Craig have had some flirty moments but that’s all so far. No snogging yet, but I am dreading the day it comes up on the script.

“The first one is always the worst. The guys are very good though. They have probably kissed lots of different girls.

“I won’t be swigging brandy – I’ll just be going for it. I had a lot of practice on Emmerdale when I was kissing Matt Wolfenden. It just becomes a job in the end”

Hayley’s looking forward to getting stuck in to this grittier storyline on the show, which won Best Soap at the National TV Awards, and it looks like things are going really well for her.